crinkly_ears | The Espanyol Match Spam, Sami Scores His First Goal, Press Reviews, Comic Relief & A Little Serzil!

The Espanyol Match Spam: Sami Scores His First League Goal,
Press Reviews, Comic Relief & A Little Serzil!

A game against Espanyol, which happens to be my favourite Liga team to watch after Madrid (and possibly Athletic Bilbao), would normally be considered quite routine - especially at home.

But back after International Break the boys were looking to avoid the "FIFA virus" - the affliction suffered by top teams (teams that are normally stuffed with Internationals) that sees them lose games after returning from their national teams because of the break in routine, niggling injuries picked up, and jet-lag.

Before the game,. Madrid's unspeakably hot - as in, hotter than our footballers are hot - basketball players presented their trophy to the crowd.

;While it was nice to have so many gorgeous lads on the pitch at one time this only added to your correspondent's pre-game nerves since pre-match presentations normally result in Madrid conceding first. But we needn't have worried. Within two minutes Mesut had Pipita through on goal (it was called, correctly, offside).

And the boys certainly looked very motivated: Mesut (and Pipita for that matter!) ooking wonderfully cheesed off by one of several offside calls (all of them correct as it happens).

And Then There Were Five: The Goals

Mesut Plays The Penultimate Pass: Crispy Ronaldo's 1:0

A gorgeous bit of passing between Mesut, Pipita and Crispy and we had a typically gorgeous Crispy Ronaldo goal...

...Replete with gorgeously restrained goal-celebration...

"Please don't make a fuss. I am CR7. I score them like that all the time."

All things considered it was my favourite goal of the evenng. And of course the first goal is always the most important!

Gorgeous.

Mesut Assists, Sami Khedira Scores His First League Goal: The 2:0

Well it took him long enough. One and a half years after arriving at Madrid Sami Khedira finally got his first league goal. Let's hope he doesn't leave it as long for next time.

Of course with Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut's gorgeous work laying on the goal it would have been hard even for him to miss!

Sami has certainly been unlucky,and missed a few sitters over the past year and a half so Mourinho, so normally doesn't celebrate goals, was suitably happy.

One more look at Mesut's lovely assist.

Pipita's Very Good, Very Nice Afternoon: The 3:0

Gonzalo Higuain has not had an easy two weeks. A cold outing against CSKA Moscow, and a performance against Rayo Vallecano that resulted in side-line footage from Mourinho that could have doubled as a lesson in Spanish cursing on a particularly no-good very bad day - well let's just say the lovely boy needed a lovely goal.

(Some gorgeous stuff from Kaka before the goal. Good to see him finally coming back to full form.)

And doubtless the cuddles that come after a goal is scored didn't hurt either...

...and nor did Papa Mou's patently thrilled reaction:

Kaka's goal - Gorgeously set-up by Crispy Ronaldo. The 4:0

With the game winding down there were two more goals to come.

Pipita gets his second. The 5:0

What the title says!

Ovations and Cuddles

Congratulating Kaka for the fourth was Mesut's last significant action of the evening. Mourinho was seen checking his watch as Kaka scored. That is normally a sign that Mesut, the player Mourinho has used in more games than any other, (Iker Casillas and Cristiano Ronaldo included) is coming off.

When Mourinho was banned last year against Racing Santander he was observed by the cameras that were stationed on him in the stands, directing every aspect of Madrid's game, shouting down to Angel di Maria "Angel. Angel! Is Ozil tired yet? No? Okay." As it happens, Mesut finished that game and played the full 90 minutes + injury time.

This time he came off to a standing ovation and a rare cuddle from Mourinho.

Mesut normally hides his face behind a nose-swiping arm as he comes off - the moment his on-the-pitch swagger normally completely deserts him. This time he actually acknowledge the crowd a couple of times!

Callejon came on and Mesut was done for the evening.

Post Match Gems

andriy_7 kindly made us a few extra gifs from the post-match videos that are made after the games showing angles we don't normally see.

Thus we got a couple of glimpses of how Mesut reacts when a teammate misses a shot after some fancy-footwork - with a thumbs up and a cheeky wink!

Cristiano Ronaldo telling Mesut (Mesut! You!) to take the free-kick that knocked out one of the Espanyol players (Mourinho explained once in a press-conference that in team practices Mesut's left-foot is more successful from certain angles than Cristiano Ronaldo's right-foot)

The forward view of his assist.

And some more affectionate if somewhat brusquely encouraging moments from Papa Mou toward his nose-swiping midfielder.

And finally this - two gifs Andriy♥ kindly made by request and to specifications (though I only asked for one ♥). As many of you will have realized by now I have an immense weakness for Crispy Ronaldo. So when Mesut makes a perfect pass to our light-footed golden boy, and Crispy meets it with a perfect first touch before dancing over the ball and getting a corner out of it...well...

I could watch Crispy's footwork forever.

...there's a reason they call it the beautiful game.

Trilingual Love - The Press Reviews

English speaking reviewers were in general more taken with Kaka and Higuain than with Mesut or Cristiano Ronaldo. The Spanish write-ups however, appreciated the fine difference between excelling at the end of a game against a demoralized opponent and the subtlety of breaking down a team in the first period.

At any rate, Mesut's reviews in Spanish (and by Spaniards) were even more glowing than his English ones.

Madrid.com for example: A new football exhibition from the German player who drove the Espanyol players mad between the lines with his vision; Ozil left the Bernabeu to ovations from the crowd.

Defensa Central: Returned as a magician in all thirds of the pitch. Was left unmarked, fueled the team's attack. A genius.

Well, quite!

The team's two outstanding players.

Over at the typically flowery Spanish version of goal.com Mesut was described as being "in a sweet moment in his career..."

While the Germans (who are normally so hostile) noted he played "one dream pass after another..."

Meanwhile over at As, Mesut and Kaka were both singled out in the write-up for the game and both made the headline.

A Little Comic Relief

Mourinho with an umbrella and a cup of tea. Johann Cruyff spying behind the scenes. Mesut with laser-vision. Pepe and Angel in the stands. This Crackovia skit requires no translation.

And A Little Serzil In Practice!